Life Without Technology

As I was in the midst of preparing for The Project, I came across two very similar 'news' stories that really got me thinking...

The first story I read on my Yahoo news...they now have a TEXTING championship. I imagine it to be somewhat like a spelling bee, since I believe there were rounds and everything, only it is whoever can text a certain message the fastest without any errors and using all those stupid codes correctly. The winner, I believe, was a 14 year old girl.
The second story caught my attention while Rachel Ray was on TV in the background. She had all kids who were really good at certain things on her show. One of the girls she had on was a 14 year old girl who held the record for sending the most text messages in a year...or some amount of time. It averaged to something like 400 texts a day or something really crazy like that.

These two stories and a very deep conversation I had the other day... had me thinking in amazement of the environment that I live in all summer at camp. We (students and staff) live practically technology-free all summer. We have no TVs and for the most part no computers, internet, or cell phones. The students don't have their cell phones glued to their hand...they don't even have them in their possession, and the staff isn't constantly checking their facebook every 10 minutes.
I am the first person to admit that i am addicted to being on my computer and on the internet and connected to the world in that way, however, I 100% look forward to being disconnected for the summer. I love not having internet for weeks at a time, not having time to check my cell phone til extremely late at night, and not killing my brain cells with the crap that's on TV.

All of that being said...what you discover at this particular camp is that the product of life without technology is...people creating the most amazing bonds with other people because they talk to each other...in person. The students play games together, discover new things they are good at, step out of their comfort zone to meet new people, and have real heartfelt conversations.

I digress...you truly have to see it happen, it amazes me, and I love it. Disconnected in T-minus 6 days!

This Is Me

I blogged my way through high school (if you could call it that) and after taking a break for a couple years, I’m going to give it another shot. Going into senior year of college, student teaching in the fall, and just about to begin the best summer job ever- I feel that my life is going to become more exciting and hopefully blog-worthy.

The first time around it was a team-effort and we basically wrote about our own inside jokes and the pointless adventures that filled our time. A quote from my previous blog that basically sums up what my life was like 5 years ago:“Ok so well it’s Monday and this weekend consisted of, Friday- cheerleading 5-9, Saturday- cheerleading 5-9 and Sunday- sat in the rainy wet weather watching graduation then cheerleading 5-9. I survived my first driving hour (just barely) and I have to do that again on Tuesday and I have awards night on Wednesday...yay perfect attendance!!”
Besides just finishing my last year cheerleading (after 13 years…yikes!), my hope is to have some bigger and better experiences to blog about. Including…college graduation and where life will take me after that, in just one short year!

Why Prom Gowns & Projects you ask? These 2 things characterize my life in many ways.
Prom Gowns…I absolutely love prom gowns and both proms were two of the best nights of my life, however, this has a bigger meaning in my life. Just approaching 5 years ago I opened a chapter of the non-profit nationwide organization Becca’s Closet in my town and I collected prom gowns and then donated them to girls who were unable to afford one and otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend prom. I spent many hours spreading the word, collecting gowns, and running appointments. This past October I began a second chapter, and the first one in Rhode Island, and collected about 250 gowns in about 6 months. At any given time there was at least one prom gown in either my living room or the back of my car and I spent a lot of energy getting this chapter up and running. I’m also a huge fan of the organizations motto: “Little things can make a big difference.”
Projects…basically being an education major requires many projects. There was always some project-esque assignment that needed to be completed for class or to accompany a lesson plan. I have a feeling that this will be something that will continue in my future career. Additionally, one of my favorite things in the world is the summer camp that I work at which we will call The Project.

And to quote a fortune that I got from a fortune cookie today and absolutely loved, “Fight for it. You will come out on the top.”